After a fun-filled and thrilling weekend (field day and Six Flags), the BEAMers are starting their third and last academic week. This week's courses are: Sequences and Euler's Partition Formula; Amazing Discovery; Modeling; Information Theory; and High School Preparation.

A concoction of perfumes filled the halls of the dorm, lip gloss was generously applied, shirts were tucked in, and hair was transformed into artful masterpieces as the students primped up for their night out. Everyone was finally ready, and the group walked towards the architecturally sublime Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts. The BEAMers, gawking at the sight of the place, entered the building. The dress rehearsal for the opera Iris was spectacular. The students were amazed with the wonderful scenery, impressive special effects, and beautiful music. What a night.

After two days of amazing field trips, the second academic week began. The courses being offered this week are: Solving Big Problems; Math Team Strategies; Voting Theory; Number Theory; Symmetries, Mosaics, and ¿Dancing?; and Programming.

Leon Botstein, the president of Bard College, gave the students a beginning-of-the-week commencement speech, during which he talked about the importance of academics and of programs like BEAM. Additionally, he invited the BEAMers to attend the dress rehearsal for the opera "Iris", which he will be conducting, on Wednesday evening.

The good news just keeps rolling in: the fourth challenge problem has been solved by one of our BEAMers: Kenneth. The prize is yet to be announced.

It was a BEAMing Saturday at Bard, and this meant a lot of things for the BEAMers:

1) The first academic week was over, and the students got to choose new classes for the upcoming week.

2) The solutions to the challenge problems were formally presented in front of the entire BEAM group by the students who solved them. Jacob, one of the BEAMers, solved the third challenge problem (meaning the BEAMers get a pizza party as a prize), and presented the solution to it alongside the other students who solved the other two: Milani, Deja, and Miriam.

3) BEAM was visited by a guest speaker: the founder of BEAM, Daniel Zaharopol.

4) It was relay day! Students competed in teams to complete competition-style math problems.

5) After solving challenge problems one and two, the students got to reap their prize in the evening: movie night with popcorn!